1. أَذُمُّ إليكَ عاديةَ الفِراقِ

    وأحمَدُ سائحَ الدَّمعِ المُراقِ

    To you I decry the assault of parting,

    and praise the stream of tears poured forth.

  2. أَمِنْتُ الكاشِحينَ فَأَسْلَمَتْهُ

    لذِكْراكَ الشُّؤونُ إلى المآقي

    I felt safe from the spiteful; so it was yielded,

    at the thought of you, by the tear ducts to the eyes' corners.

  3. ولم أَملِكْ غَراماً في اتَّئادٍ

    يؤَرِّقُني ودَمعاً في استباقِ

    Nor could I restrain a slow, persistent passion

    that keeps me sleepless, or tears racing one another.

  4. وكيفَ أَرُدُّ أنفاساً حِراراً

    لو ارتَدَّتْ لأَحْرَقَتِ التَّراقي

    And how could I turn back burning sighs?

    If they returned, they would scorch my collarbones.

  5. أَرومُ دُنُوَّ كاذبةِ التَّداني

    من العُشَّاقِ صادِقَةِ الفِراقِ

    I seek the nearness of one false in drawing near

    to lovers, but true in parting.

  6. أَلَمَّ خَيالُها والعِيسُ حَسْرى

    مَرافِقُها وسائدُ للرِّفاقِ

    Her phantom visited while the pale camels were exhausted,

    their elbows serving as pillows for the companions.

  7. فبِتْنا والعُقودُ لها انبتاتٌ

    على الأعناقِ من ضيقِ العِناقِ

    So we passed the night, necklaces breaking

    upon our necks from the tightness of the embrace.

  8. وراحٍ يَستَحِثُّ بها ضَريبٌ

    على راحٍ يُخَيَّلُ في احتراقِ

    And wine a drinking companion hurries round,

    upon a palm that seems to be ablaze.

  9. سَلَبْناها الزِّقاقَ ونحنُ أَولَى

    بما تحوي الزِّقاقُ من الزِّقاقِ

    We stripped the wineskins of it—we have more right

    to what the wineskins hold than the wineskins themselves—

  10. بمتَّسِقٍ كأَنَّ الشَّمْسَ تجلو

    علينا منه حَلْياً في اتِّساقِ

    with a full, rounded cup, as though the sun displayed

    from it before us jewels in ordered array.

  11. له أَرَجٌ يُحَيِّي السِّرْبَ وَهْناً

    بأنفاسٍ مُطَيَّبَةٍ رِقاقِ

    Its fragrance greets the flock late at night

    with delicate, perfumed breaths.

  12. وأغصان تَقولُ إذا تَثَنَّتْ

    أَخَمْراً ما سَقَتْهُنَّ السَّواقي

    And boughs that make you say, when they sway,

    'Was it wine the watercourses gave them to drink?'

  13. هَلِ الأَيَّامُ مُطْلِقَةٌ وِثاقي

    فأَرحلَ أَم مُنَفِّسَةٌ خِناقي

    Will the days release my bonds,

    so I may depart, or loosen the grip on my throat?

  14. وهَل بالشَّامِ لي وَجْهُ ارتيادٍ

    أُقيمُ عليه أَم وَجهُ انطلاقِ

    And do I have in al-Sham a prospect to pursue,

    on which I may stay, or a way to depart?

  15. عَلِقْتُ فما وَهَتْ كَفِّي ولكنْ

    وَهَى عن قَبْضِها حَبْلُ اعتلاقي

    I clung; my hand did not weaken, but

    the rope I clung to proved too weak for its grasp.

  16. وأكثرُ ما أقولُ سقَى ابنَ فَهْدٍ

    حياً كَنَداه مُنْحَلَّ النِّطاقِ

    And most often I say: 'May Ibn Fahd be watered

    by rain like his bounty, its girdle undone.'

  17. رَماني بامتهانٍ فَلَّ غَربي

    وأطمَعَ كلَّ وَغْدٍ في لَحاقي

    He assailed me with contempt that blunted my edge

    and gave every lout hope of catching up with me.

  18. وأَسرفَ في الوَدادِ على التَّنائي

    فحينَ دَنَوْتُ أسرفَ في الشِّقاقِ

    And he was extravagant in affection despite the distance,

    but when I drew near, extravagant in discord.

  19. وسِرْتُ فكُنتُ بَدْرَ التَّمِّ أوفى

    بِه طولُ المَسيرِ على المَحاقِ

    And I journeyed, a moon at the full, brought

    by the long journey to its dark phase.

  20. ولي منه إذا ما الكأسُ دارَتْ

    عَرابِدُ لا يَقي منهنَّ وَاقِي

    And from him, whenever the cup goes round, I receive

    fits of drunken abuse from which no protector shields me.

  21. تُساوِرُني فأَلقاها برِفْقٍ

    كما يَلْقى فَحيحَ الرُّقْشِ رَاقِي

    They assail me, and I meet them gently,

    as a snake-charmer meets the hiss of speckled snakes.

  22. تُصِمُّ صَدايَ عن نَغَمِ المَثاني

    وتُشرِقُني بما في كَفِّ سَاقِي

    They deafen my hearing to the notes of paired lute-strings

    and choke me on what is in a cupbearer's hand.

  23. ستُبْعِدُني اللّواتي قَرَّبَتْني

    وإن لم تَطْفُ نائِرَةٌ أساقي

    Those that brought me near will drive me far away,

    and even if a blaze has not died down, I drink in company.

  24. وتَجذبِنُي إذا ما الشَّامُ ضاقَتْ

    عَليَّ رِحابُه رَحَبُ العِراقِ

    And I shall be drawn, if al-Sham grows cramped

    in its expanses around me, by the breadth of Iraq.

  25. على أنّي أُفارِقُ عن وَدادٍ

    مُقيمٍ في حِمى الأحشاءِ باقي

    Yet I part with an affection

    that abides in the sanctuary of my entrails and endures.

  26. وأَذْكُرُ حَبلَكَ الثَّبْتَ الأواخي

    عليَّ وَوُدَّكَ العَذْبَ المَذاقِ

    And I remember your rope, its fastenings firm

    upon me, and your affection, sweet to the taste.

  27. وأبقَى غَيْرَ مُسْتَبْقٍ دُموعاً

    تَفيضُ ولا تَغيضُ على الإباقِ

    And I shall remain, holding back no tears

    that overflow and never ebb over my flight.

  28. وكم عَبْدٍ تَذَكَّرَ فِعْلَ مَولىً

    فحَنَّ إلى سَجاياه الرِّقاقِ

    And many a slave has remembered a master's deeds

    and yearned for his gentle ways.

  29. سلامُ اللهِ منك على جَوادٍ

    إذا جارى حوى قَصَبَ السِّباقِ

    God's peace, conveyed by you, upon a generous man

    who, when he races, wins the race's prize-reed.

  30. سَما للمَجْدِ مُبْيَضَّ الأَيادي

    فَسيحَ الظِّلِّ مُمتَدَّ الرِّواقِ

    He rose toward glory, his hands white,

    his shade broad, his canopy far-stretching.

  31. فلم تَبْعُدْ عليه له أَقاصٍ

    ولم تَصعُبْ عليه له مَراقي

    So no farthest reach proved too distant for him,

    nor did any ascent prove too hard for him.

  32. وَقَفْتُ عليه وُدّاً مُستكِناً

    تَمَكَّنَ في الشِّغافِ وفي الصِّفاق

    I have devoted to him a deeply hidden love,

    firmly lodged in the heart's sheath and the belly's lining,

  33. وشُكْراً ما حدا الأَظعانَ حادٍ

    وما أخذَ الطَّريقُ من الطِّراقِ

    and gratitude, as long as a driver chants the caravans onward,

    and as long as the road takes its toll of travelers.

  34. وحَسْبي من مُباشَرَةِ الأماني

    صَبوحي من لِقائِكَ واغتِباقي

    And enough for me, in fulfilling my wishes,

    is my morning draught of meeting you, and my evening draught.